This summer, Italy will celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of its fourth world title. We were in 2006 and the Blue Team was on top of the world. An immense happiness which followed the sulphurous Calciopoli affair which had shaken Italian football a few months earlier, sending Juventus to the second division. It is in purgatory that the Old lady met on his way to the elite a Napoli in total reconstruction. A few hours before the late match of the third day between the two clubs, Calciomio takes you back to 2007, when Bianconeri and Parthenopei contested for the Serie B title.
A second division raised
When the Italian sports court delivered its verdict in 2006, Juventus was stripped of its Scudetti of 2005 and 2006 and above all, it is relegated to Serie B. Logically, the stars of the club are leaving Piedmont, like the captain of the National, Fabio Cannavaro, who flies to Madrid. But the Old lady can count on a core of players who decide to stay at the club, like the world champions Buffon, Del Piero and Camoranesi and the 2003 Golden Ball, Nedved. An ultra-talented backbone which should allow Juventus to recover as soon as possible, despite a -9 point penalty at the start of the season. But this Serie B is raised, with 22 clubs. There are Bari, Hellas, Marek Hamsik’s Brescia, Bologna and two Serie C promoted, which are historic clubs, Genoa and Napoli.
In Serie B since 1998, the Campania club was declared bankrupt in 2004 and lost its name of SSC Napoli. City-born film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis takes over the club, with the ambitious goal of bringing Napoli back to the European Cup in five years. After two years, the club returned to Serie B and regained its original name: Napoli Soccer Sports Society. Relying on the strongmen of his rise as Grava and Calaiò and on intelligent recruits like Paolo Cannavaro and Domizzi, the Parthenopei are determined to find the elite.
A duel for the title
If Juventus takes their feet in the Rimini carpet for the first day, they then start the machine with eight consecutive wins until the first leg. In an enclosure heated in white, Juventus and Napoli face each other for the first time this season. If Del Piero turns off San Paolo, it is turned on again by Bogliacino who allows the locals to get the draw (1-1). Shoulder to shoulder can begin.
Because if Juventus had a point in advance at the end of the first leg, the following months prove that the Azzurri are promoted to conquerors. During the winter, Edoardo Reja’s men catch up and seize the leader’s chair on several occasions. But the band in Deschamps, playing on the quality of its workforce, takes back its good and does not let go from March. April 10, because of the penalty Bianconeri had received, they are only three points ahead of Napoli, who land in Piedmont with the desire to make a blow. In 4-4-2, with his captains and also two players who will embody the Scudetti of the Conte, Chiellini and Marchisio era, Juventus hosts Parthenopei at 3-5-2.
The World champions swallow the Napoli
The meeting for the comeback in Serie A and the league title begins. Sosa shows the way for Napoli but he lacks precision. A precision that Nedved shows, on the other hand: at the exit of a soloist number, he deposits a cross coming in towards the far post. Trezeguet is short but not Camoranesi whose head deceives Iezzo. Hungry, the Bianconeri not content to manage and set off again to attack the opposing goal, but neither the 2003 Golden Ball, nor Del Piero found the break. It must be said that in addition to the lack of realism in Turin, Gennaro Iezzo is brilliant and if Napoli will finish the best defense in Serie B, his goalkeeper is obviously not for nothing.
But nobody can stop the World Champions after returning from the locker room: Camoranesi sends a ball over the defense to his captain Del Piero, who with a subtle exterior, doubles the bet. Demonstrative joy for The Pinturrichio who celebrates his sixteenth goal of the season, he who will finish best trigger of the championship. While everything seems perfect, Marchisio is excluded by Mr. Ayroldi, for a second yellow, following a late foul on Gatti. A decision which relaunches the meeting and the Neapolitans until then dominated, finally show the fangs. If Buffon does not tremble on a recovery of Trotta, he is saved twice by his uprights, first on a surface-to-air missile from Domizzi then face-to-face with Sosa. But the future champion resists and wins.
This success of Juventus is enhanced a month later. On the lawn of Arezzo, the men of Deschamps easily win (1-5) and validate the comeback and the title of champion. For its part, Napoli also found the elite, on the last day, thanks to a draw in Genoa (0-0). And since this Serie B fight, Juventus and Napoli have largely demonstrated their importance in the Italian football landscape. And the meeting tonight, with the main stake being the qualification in Champions League, will be exciting to follow.
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